If you are in or represent any of the bands discussed in Harsh Distractions and would like your music removed, please contact me at HarshDistractions@gmail.com and I will remove the post. I'm simply trying to turn people on to records they may not have heard, not end up in a legal battle.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

For a period of time Mental were one of best bands in hardcore and absolutely one of the most interesting straight edge bands of the time. Led by charismatic singer Greg Wilmott and rounded out by serious multi-tasker and drummer DFJ, Mental released several impressive demo's, 7"s, comp tracks and topped it off with a a great LP that showed their evolution as a band of masterful hardcore songwriters. Then in the blink of an eye their popularity vanished as word spread that some of the members were no longer straight edge. Personally, I could have cared less, but it was like watching a hot air balloon being shot out of the sky. It was heartbreaking to see their final show in Chicago. Their shows here were insane and on the last tour so many people left before they even played. They broke up on tour shortly after that show.

However, in the spirit of celebration, I present this radio set is from the period around the release (if memory serves) of Get an Oxygen Tank. It is a fantastic representation of how great they were live and why they were such taste-makers within hardcore.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

My friends Chris and Tymm from the band Fireworks started a project band with their friend Justin singing called Viking. Musically, it bears a lot of similarities to late 80's/early 90's NYHC ala Cro-Mags, Life of Agony, etc, but the vocals strongly remind me of what people commonly associate with "90's hardcore," somewhere in between talking/yelling/singing. I think Justin is going for an Eddie Leeway, Life of Agony, Only Living Witness thing, but it only periodically reminds me of that. Check it out and see what you think and let me know. I can't put my finger on it.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

I can't lie. When I first heard Bottom Line a few years ago, they didn't leave much of an impression. They played with Sex Positions at the Fireside Bowl and though I thought they were good live (and did an excellent cover of "The Hard Way" by Outburst), I thought their 7", No One's Safe, was pretty boring and derivative. Frankly, it still might be. I haven't heard it in a few years and when I searched for it at my parents house tonight, I couldn't find it.

However, I came across this sampler they brought on their Summer tour in 2004 last night and have been listening to the songs all day. They aren't the most original band ever, and they weren't when they were around either, but the songs here are pretty solid mid-tempo New York Hardcore. Brian, Bottom Line's singer, has a perfect voice full of anger and disgust, especially when they go into the slower mosh parts.

Aside from Brian going on to sing for Sex Positions, I'm not sure what happened with this band, but these songs are definitely hitting the spot for me today. Check it out.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Due to my recent attempt to include live performances on my radio show, I've gone back and listened to a number of radio sets I've obtained over the years. Here is a Count Me Out set I found on a blog a while back. It seems like it was recorded shortly after the release of their second LP Permanent for Princeton University radio. It's about 20 minutes long and well worth checking out if you're a fan. Personally, they were one of my favorite hardcore bands of the early 2000's and though they put out a solid catalog of material during their existence, I was really interested to see what they'd do next.

Sex Positions were a pretty short-lived band from Boston that put out and excellent LP on Deathwish Inc. They formed after the demise of their other short-lived band, The Dedication who put out a pretty decent EP on Deathwish as well. However, in my opinion the members didn't really hit their stride until they started writing for Sex Pos. The songs were far more intricate and developed and the lyrics were far more mature and literate.

Before their LP came out my buddy Rich sent me some demos of what they were working on. I was impressed. A lot of the songs had a Drive Like Jehu meets Ink & Dagger feel to them. Later on they re-recorded these and the songs from their demo tape, added a lot of programming and electronics to create their debut. I still feel it's a pretty underrated record. They did a lot of interesting things with hardcore that pushed the envelope without being some ridiculous metal-core band or straying too far from the path of straight-forward song writing. So, for those interested, here are these demos.

Here are both hours of Raw Nerve on my radio show. Unfortunately, the second hour cuts out due to some technical difficulties. Their live performance is during the first hour. I am very happy with how it turned out.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Before I began doing the radio component of Harsh Distractions, I knew I wanted to have bands come in and play live sets similar to the classic WNYU ones, and more recently the performances on WERS Boston and WLUW Chicago. My ultimate goal is to have the show be somewhere in-between Sound Opinions and the independent hardcore/punk shows I grew up listening to. Tomorrow I get a bit closer to that with Chicago's Raw Nerve coming in to play live in the studio. This is big for me. If all goes well, this is just the beginning of bands playing on the show.

With that said, here is the Raw Nerve demo. They play fast, dirty, lo-fi hardcore with enough grit and mystery to keep it from sounding like every other fast punk/hc band. They have a record coming out on Youth Attack in the near future and I'm anxious to hear it. For now, download the demo (there is even a Nirvana cover included.

Check out their set tomorrow (9/15/09) at Fearless Radio from 7-9pm CST. Click 'listen now.'